THE WIND at Fawkner Beacon FIRST RACE FOR SUMMER, First WIN for LUSCIOUS 3 rd October 2018 36 yachts sailed the first race of our Summer season, on a beautiful Summery day. There were a few changes in wind direction, and also a significant increase in wind strength in the first 30mins of the race. The wind dropped, but not until after the race had finished at 16:07:04. THE SEPARATION OF THE FLEET AT THE START: The time from the first yacht to start to the last was 57:24 mins AT NUMBER 4 (the first time): Leading the fleet was Dolphin Play 14:39:26 (off -4) Following the Triton was ANDANTE off 12 mins, then CASSANDRA off 18mins. (Perhaps a prize should be awarded to the yacht who passes number 4 first the most the most times in a season). FINAL SPREAD of yachts was just 15:23mins After the first 4 yachts crossed the finish line, in the next 10 mins all but 3 yachts had finished. It pays to reflect on the closeness of the yachts finishing as it makes you aware that just a few small errors can make a significant difference in placing.
EARLY STARTER Over the line early was expensive for BRANNEW. Her 5 mins penalty cost her 15 places. (Maybe a prize should be given at the end of the season for the yacht that losses the most places for being over early. BRANNEW might be a contender.) Closest racing - Willarie and Pippa, two of the Triton fleet, started off the same handicap of 10 mins. Pippa s start was 7 seconds later than Willarie. At halfway Willarie was 2 mins in front, but at the finish Pippa crossed in 27 th place and 9 seconds later Willarie in 28 th place. The third Triton, Dolphin Play, finished just a few more places behind in 31 st place, with 5 yachts behind her. START of the DAY on 00000 seconds, ESPRIT. It gave them something to cheer about. Not looking quite as happy was Saint George, whose SECRETARY started 2 seconds late, a score shared with PRIMO, WHITE NOISE, MYUNA, ARABESQUE. On 1 second was BON VIVANT missed it by that much! You will note the use of other sources of photos due to the depletion of the Pappa Art Sea. We have used some photos from previous races and some from the manufacturer s Websites. FIRST PLACE LUSCIOUS Sm141 Bavaria 41 Peter Sutton Started off 21 mins handicap. At the halfway mark she was in 5 th place, just about 5min behind the leader. She finished at 15:51:41 taking just 41 seconds over 2 hours. We did not see much of Luscious during the WW Winter series,
but she did have a few good finishes in the early races with a handicap of 24mins, she finished 5 th, 10 th and 11 th. LUSCIOUS did have a little assistance as she made use of the SYC coach, who is available to all skippers once a season. If you want to follow Peter s example of improving your sailing, just send an email request to the Sail Captain Daniel Edwards. Email Daniel@sdconsultants.com.au. Micah Shallow, our SYC coach, is on a 3-win hat trick on boats he has assisted recently, according the Sail Captain. The other Bavarians in the WW fleet range in a variety of sizes and handicaps. Foggy Dew 32ft (H/C 21) Second Nature 38ft (H/C 32), Uluwatu 41ft (H/C 35), and Barnstormer 48ft (H/C 48) SECOND PLACE CASSANDRA of MELBOURNE Big Bob Reeve Only 41 seconds off first place. He started 5 th on his 18mins handicap and was only 7 second late. Half way at number 4 he was 3 rd just 2 mins behind ANDANTE who had a handicap of 12. What was Bob doing sending someone up the mast just before the race? Something to do with wind? but it helped his performance. He did share a lesson he learnt. Before you pull apart your electronics make sure you have something at the top of your mast. THIRD PLACE ANDANTE Keith Woodruff His CATALINA 385 was off just 12 mins and he was 16 seconds late. As he was only 7 seconds behind Cassandra at the finish, a better start could have gained him a second place. It is unclear where the Catalina 385 gets its name as it is actually 39 2 or 11.94mts with a beam of 13 1 or 3.99mts. For a review of this class of yacht see: https://www.catalinayachts.com/ocean-series/catalina-385/
THE FAST TRACK Yachts that had the fastest elapsed time: 1 Sm4 WICKED 1:37:04 2 Sm1750 CARPE DIEM 1:37:22 3 Sm6 STAMPEDE 1:38:04 4 6107 THE SECRETARY 1:38:46 By contrast 11 yachts made more use of the pleasant weather and spent over 2 hours sailing the course. A big spread going down wind to No 7. Look carefully for a Triton Reminders for skippers MOB declaration is due this month. That the first CENTURY CLASS race to count is Race 5, 31 st October Sign on your crew for each race on the Web before the race Late casual entries do have to pay a late entry fee. A happy memory of two tower ladies - Margaret and Denise.
Denise spent many years volunteering for WW s. Her funeral was held last Wednesday morning. Not many WW sailors realize there was a poem written about Wednesday Wonders many years ago - circa 1930. Those of you aged enough and who were educated in Victoria may remember The School Readers. Sea Fever by John Mansfield, featured in THE SEVENTH BOOK is one example of a poem well known by Wednesday Wonders sailors and featured at many funerals. Also, printed in THE FIFTH BOOK 1930, page 169, was Sea Hunger by Marjorie Court. It expresses the spirit of Wednesday Wonders very aptly. We look forward to Windward Buoy s return. Rumours are that Four Seasons has had a very rapid passage to Tassie, and the crew will return very soon. Happy Birthday to Alma Doepel. She is 115 on October 12 MARK WINDWARD